wouldn’t want to to try the woodwork on a recumbent 😯

beware of the Rawk music..

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=9uVpw2QYupQ[/video]

A high rider one too. Anyone ever ridden one of these awful things?

wouldn’t want to to try the woodwork on a recumbent shonky woodwork on any bike.

Sod that, looks lethal.

A high rider one too. Anyone ever ridden one of these awful things?

Stop it 😉

Yes, I’ve ridden mine off-road quite a bit. Depends on the terrain of course – trikes are silly fun on fast dirt tracks.

My FiL has one, although not quite like that. It’s got a 20″ front wheel and about a metre long articlated stem. It’s just awful to ride.

That doesn’t look like fun. It looks like one small step away from spinal injury

MBUK, a long time ago:

My word that looks sh*t……..
🙂

If you’re determined to look a complete ****, cut out the middle man and just get on with the unicycle.

Advantages are that you don’t need to wear silly clothes, and you don’t go head first into every obstacle 😉

From http://www.hostelshoppe.com

Also found this whilst searching for off-road bents:

http://lightfootcycles.com/products-overview/bike-models-overview/ranger/bigfoot-recumbent-off-road-bicycle/

My word that looks sh*t……..

🙂

Great way to turn fun trails into slow awkward ones

Great way to turn fun trails into slow awkward ones

I’ve got a mate who rides dirt bikes – he says exactly the same thing about MTBs 😉

Aye Ben but we can go many places he can’t and don’t need to rely on petrol to enjoy our sport. Granted, his dirt bike will be better for boosting up quarry excavations, but I don’t really feel bad about that 😉

Looks like the most tedious unpleasant thing you can do on a bicycle.

Ok so how do you bunny hop water bars in one of those?

I’m out.

Looks like the most tedious unpleasant thing you can do on a bicycle.

That’s pretty much how I feel about road bikes…

I’ve got one 8) One of Ben’s Velotechnic Streetmachines ! It’s not the most maneuverable thing off road but it makes me smile. I stopped using it as it was making my quads go a queer shape 😀

That’s pretty much how I feel about road bikes…

Road bikes were the most tedious and unpleasant thing you could do on a bicycle but have just been relegated.

I stopped using it as it was making my quads go a queer shape

Pics? 🙂

Recumbents aren’t ever going to be as good off-road as a MTB, no surprises there – but they can be a lot of fun to mess about on, and pretty rapid on smoother tracks like forestry paths and the like.

Have you ever toured on a ‘bent Ben? The more I see them, the more I feel the need to build one… Just got to grow my beard a bit more!

Yes – nice things about touring are you’re much more comfortable, and you can also carry more luggage – panniers go low and central, without affecting the steering.

That’s not a recumbent, where’s the flappy flag & orange refector stalks 🙄

Utter bollocks.

I saw a bloke on one of the trike jobbies at Whinlatter,he had a grin like a madman.

I saw a bloke on one of the trike jobbies at Whinlatter,he had a grin like a madman.

Says it all, really 😉

I suppose you can file offroad recumbents along with fat bikes, unicycles and the like – not for serious people, just fun to mess about on.

Each to there own

Does look rubbish, but probably hilarious to ride

Plus, there’s no requirement to slather special creams on your nether regions before riding, to prevent chafage.

Still, roadies are worse – slather your bits with chamois cream, wear tight Lycra shorts with a nappy liner in, hunch over on a skinny saddle in a position that makes you hunchbacked and impotent at the same time, and still end up slower than me pootling along on my recumbent 🙂

I don’t use creams, I quite enjoy the chaffing.

still end up slower than me pootling along on my recumbent

With your arse 6″ from the floor and well out of sight of lorry drivers? 🙂

The bent I rode was painfully slow. Max sprint effort got me to about 15mph.

That’s ‘cos your muscles hadn’t adapted – recumbents use different muscle groups, it takes time to adapt.

Plus you have to learn to keep pedalling in corners, and brake much later 😉

I do like the idea of low rider ones but not on roads.

Really low ones aren’t brilliant in traffic – but not because cars might hit you. It’s more because if you’re below car bonnet level, your ability to see left and right at junctions is quite limited.

I’m a big fan of high racers – fast, light recumbents with a seating heat that’s more normal, putting you eye-level with car drivers. A winter project is to start building the Speed Ross, a middle-to-high racer that can be built up to weigh less than 20lbs.

but not because cars might hit you

Hang on – so you are so low you can’t see around bonnets and wings, but you DON’T think that is an issue? Surely if you are below bonnet level you are also below window level thereby rendering you entirely invisible at close quarters? Not to mention vans and lorries!

The other issue with that high racer I rode was that it was borderline unrideable.

Yes, because when driving you look out for small stuff all the time – kerbs, potholes, small children, stuff like that. What would be dangerous is to go up alongside a left-turning car at a junction, but you’d be daft to do that on any bike.

Lowracers aren’t any more or less invisible on the road than any other bike, is what I’m saying – and they have the advantage that all recumbents have of being unusual, so people actually take the time to look instead of ignoring you.

What bike did you try? All recumbents take a little time to adjust to – 15 minutes to get the basics, a couple of weeks or so to get really confident.

Yes, because when driving you look out for small stuff all the time – kerbs, potholes, small children, stuff like that

And they always avoid them too. Upright cyclists never get hit, so ones below your window line will surely be fine 🙂 Still to risky for me.

What bike was it I rode? Dunno, kind of like this but not quite

Wimp 😉

The problem is (and don’t laugh) but statistically cycling is pretty safe. And recumbents are relatively rare. Put those two together and it’s hard to come up with reliable figures, but anecdotally most recumbent riders I talk to feel safer on their recumbent. This is my experience too – and if you do have an accident, it’s usually less serious than on an upright bike – on an upright, you tend to go over the handlebars and head first into something – on a recumbent you either topple sideways (gravel rash on your hip) or go feet-first – your legs are pretty good shock absorbers.

tl;dr: all bikes are good.

They certainly are rare, not sure I’ve seen more than one or two ever in the UK.